DWI: Alcohol

Physical Consequences

Alcohol is a relatively short-acting drug. It is gradually absorbed into the bloodstream and cerebral spinal fluid. Every organ is affected to some degree by alcohol consumption. The most common consequences of heavy alcohol use are accidental falls or driving crashes. This is due to alcohol's effects on motor function and coordination. Alcohol also interferes with memory and judgment. Furthermore, alcohol can and does impact the following organs: liver, stomach, brain, pancreas, peripheral nerves, and heart. Prolonged use of alcohol can also lead to impaired brain functioning, resulting in confusion and memory loss. In short, all body organs can be impacted through use of alcohol.

Factors influencing alcohol absorption and metabolism

Food: The presence of food and the type of food in the gastrointestinal tract can affect the absorption process when alcohol is consumed. Therefore, eating food before or along with drinking alcohol, can reduce the absorption rate of alcohol. Gender: Women absorb and metabolize alcohol differently from men. They have higher BACs after consuming the same amount of alcohol as men and are more susceptible to alcoholic liver disease, heart muscle damage, and brain damage. The difference in BACs between women and men has been attributed to women's smaller amount of body water. The effect is like that of dropping the same amount of alcohol into a smaller pail of water. Women also have a lower activity of the alcohol-metabolizing enzyme ADH in the stomach, which causes a larger portion of alcohol to reach the blood.

Psychological Consequences

Long-term alcohol consumption produces severe psychological problems that can continue for many months after drinking has stopped. Depression is an example of a psychological problem enhanced by alcohol use. Other psychosocial problems include: pathological dependency that is an abnormal dependency caused by alcoholism; marked anxiety; inability to set long-term goals; and, inability to proceed with an action plan and handle responsibility. The short-term psychological and behavioral effects of alcohol are primarily restricted to the central nervous system. The lowering of inhibitions, occurring at low doses, is unpredictable and largely determined by the person, their mental expectations, and the environment. Reactions to alcohol can range from relaxation and euphoria to withdrawn or violent behavior. As the sedative effects increase in response to higher dosages, mental expectations and the environment become progressively less important. At low doses of alcohol, a person may still function (although with less coordination) and may attempt to drive or otherwise endanger themselves and/or others. Memory, concentration, and insight are progressively dulled, and then lost, and as the dose increases, the drinker becomes progressively more incapacitated. Alcohol intoxication and its resulting lack of inhibitions plays a major role in a large percentage of violent crimes including rape, sexual assault, and certain kinds of deviant behaviors. More than 50 percent of crimes and highway crashes are alcohol-related, a number that hasn't changed much in 20 years.

Social Consequences

The social costs of alcoholism are enormous, causing related factors such as absenteeism, tardiness, decreased efficiency, on-the-job accidents, increased use of medical benefits, and sick-leave pay.

Effects of Alcohol Alcohol metabolism

The time from a person's last drink to the maximum concentration of alcohol in the blood stream ranges from 30 to 90 minutes. An empty stomach will absorb approximately 20 percent of a single dose of alcohol directly into the blood through the stomach, often quite rapidly, while the remaining 80 percent is absorbed through the upper intestine, again quite rapidly. When drinking on a full stomach, the absorption from both the stomach and the upper intestine is slowed. Therefore, eating before or while drinking will slow the rise in a person's BAC. Alcohol's effect on the brain is very rapid. Alcohol also penetrates the placenta of a pregnant woman and reaches the infant's brain rapidly and easily resulting in the fetus having a blood alcohol level identical to its mother's. Metabolism is the body's process of converting ingested substances to other compounds. Metabolism results in some substances becoming more, and some less, toxic than those originally ingested. Metabolism involves a number of processes, one of which is referred to as oxidation. Through oxidation, alcohol is detoxified, primarily by the liver, and removed from the blood. Until all the alcohol consumed has been metabolized, it is distributed throughout the body, affecting the brain and other tissues. Removal of alcohol from your blood stream occurs at the rate of about one drink per hour. After correcting for differences in body weight, women have a higher BAC than men. This factor may increase the vulnerability of some women both to acute intoxication and to the chronic complications of alcoholism. Alcohol, like all sedatives, progressively impairs a person's ability to function. As such, a .08 BAC is merely a legally established arbitrary value. A person's driving ability starts to become impaired at .01 BAC and grows steadily worse. From .05 to .08 BAC, a person's judgment and reactions are impaired. People also become less inhibited, which means that the risk of a crash multiplies. Perhaps the hardest kind of abuser to distinguish through visual observation is a polydrug user.The term "polydrug use" refers to the taking of two or more different drugs at a time. This often occurs when a person does not have a primary drug of choice and will use what is available. Polydrug use can cause varying negative effects. It is not uncommon for some individuals to smoke marijuana,drink alcohol, and take depressants at the same time. People who abuse amphetamines will often take depressants, narcotics, and/or drink alcohol to relieve the intensity of the amphetamine high. Polydrug use can cause the greatest risk to others because of the unpredictability of a person's behavior who is mixing drugs. Obviously, this is considered very high risk behavior.